Glasgow FoodGeek ~ Review

// 18 February 2014

Last Saturday night I finally managed to get my bum on a seat in Cail Bruich located at 725 Great Western Road.

This restaurant has been on my radar forever and a day but proves very difficult to get a weekend table if you leave it late too make a booking, or even worse try to just walk in on spec! Everyone I know only has good things to say about it so it is fair to say I was VERY excited.

Let me set the scene for you - inside is really lovely, it's warm and welcoming and felt like I was dining in a friends front room which I kind of loved. It's very spacious with lots of room between tables so you don't feel like you are on top of each other, which makes a nice change from some restaurants. A fantastic relaxed vibe for somewhere that I anticipated might be a little stuffy.

I have one really small grumble so let me get that out of the way then I can gushy about everything. Once we were seated at our lovely table we sat for a good 5 minutes without being offered a menu or a drink. Canapes arrived at our table after a few minutes which looked really good, but as soon as we ate 1 each we then had to wait until we could order drinks before we could eat anymore because our mouths were really dry. That being said a tiny grumble on an otherwise fantastic experience.

The staff were lovely - we were served by a lovely couple who made me feel so welcome and made me laugh and a really nice young guy who was extremely attentive and friendly. Other than having to wait for menus I really couldn't fault them at all.

Now the good part, the food - We were presented at the start of the meal with a few complimentary dish, I was told what they were but I can't remember what they were now other than lovely. So here are some pictures of my mystery canapes, amuse bouche (which I remember had foie gras in it) and an amazing warm bread basket.

I had the option of eating from the market menu but instead choose from their a la carte offerings. To start I had the Breast of Glenapp Estate Partridge served with spelt grain, cepe & truffle. I've never eaten partridge before so I have no idea how it's supposed to be cooked or taste but it was absolutely delicious. It was really light and tasty and I would highly recommend it to anyone (except vegetarians obviously!). I am not a huge fan of mushrooms but I even ate the cepe and enjoyed it, which to me is a massive compliment to the chef.

For my main I picked the Loch Etive Trout served with smoked haddock, heritage potatoes, grilled leek and butter sauce. This dish was insanely good it was smokey and flavoursome and all things good with the world. I scoffed the lot while mmmming and ahhhhing. God I could actually go another plate of this right now!

For dessert I decided that it has to be cheese (due to my indiscretion with an amazing Chocolate Samosa at lunch! woops). The cheese is provided by none other than local cheesemonger George Mews. I was presented with a selections of 6 lovely cheeses and some bread and crackers which were all really nice.

Having finally dined here I can confirm that they are well worth their 2 AA Rosette and Michelin Guide Recommendation for 2012/13.